I have been doing pretty well selling items within the United States. I am considering selling my items internationally. I am a bit afraid to do this, and wondered if there were any drawbacks to selling items this way? Are there extra requirements to sell internationally?

 

Al, Ottawa

You can move more merchandise and increase your customer-base, if you sell to international buyers. When you list your item on eBay make sure you select “will ship to countries” on the sell your item form. You can select only certain countries or worldwide. Keep in mind that worldwide means everywhere. 

 

Create a special section in your listings for international buyers. Let them know the payment options you will accept and how you will calculate shipping charges after the listing closes. It is also helpful to include the weight and measurements of the package. I have found using eBay’s international shipping calculator has saved me time and money on miscalculated shipping. It is free and easy to use.

 

When packaging your item make sure you have the proper customs form filled out and that your package will withstand any abuse it could be given along the way. 

 

I have found sometimes 30% of my sales are going out of the country. 

 

 

I sold a book on March 10th. I had to file NPB to get the guy to pay, and he finally paid the 30^th of March. I shipped the 2^nd, media mail with a delivery confirmation. It shows accepted at my post office, but nothing since. On April 9th he filed a claim with PayPal, for non-receipt. I replied with the delivery confirmation number and reminded him that I was patient waiting to be paid and it had only been a few business days and media mail can take up to 3 weeks or more at time. 

 

PayPal has put a hold on the funds ($35.00). Today he escalated it to a claim stating, “I don’t even have proof of mailing”.   This buyer’s feedback is horrible. I should have canceled his bid when I realized it, but for some reason I didn’t. I emailed him tonight again with the tracking number and that I am following up with the post office over this matter. What else can I do? PayPal isn’t going to keep my money are they?

 

Frustrated Book Seller

 

 

I completely understand your frustration. Sometimes this kind of thing happens. You have done everything right in this case. You sent the item off in a timely fashion, used a track-able means to ship the item, and have communicated with your buyer. It is impossible to make everyone happy, and I think this buyer falls into that category. 

When there is a Paypal dispute, you want to make sure you follow the instructions Paypal sets for you. It is also important to keep all your contact limited to the paypal

 

 

 

 

 

I heard in the post office yesterday, they were raising postal prices again. What is the deal? I was going to ask the clerk about it, but there was a huge line, and I didn’t want to make it worse. What do you think about this? Is there anything we can do?

 

I normally sell DVD’s, CD’s and books. Is this increase going to affect me? Do you think eBay business is going to go down because of the rate increase? 

 

Going Postal, Ottawa

 

 

Just like you, I am never very happy when the post office decides to have a rate increase. The new increase takes effect on May 14 of this year. Not only is the overall cost to mail an item going up, but also the size of your item will now come into play. If you normally send out a CD first class in an 8 x 5 bubble mailer with the weight being 5 ounces, you are now paying $1.49. With the new increase you will pay $1.81 for the same 5 ounces.   Priority Mail is going up $.50 cents on a one-pound box and on flat rate boxes up $.55. http://pe.usps.com/RateCase2007/DMM300_HTML/RatesAndFees.htm#wp1008795

 

I’m not sure there is anything we can do about this besides using another mailing service. I am a bit concerned about how this increase is going to affect my business. I know in years past there have been some complaints about the new shipping costs, but most buyers know that it is going to happen, and don’t seem to mind it too much. I will be putting a blurb in my auctions about the new rate increase and when it will go into effect. Hopefully this will let customers know why the prices have gone up.

 

For more information about the rate increase: http://www.usps.com/ratecase/welcome.htm

 

 

I’ve been selling for about a two and a half years, and I would really like to open an eBay store. I can’t figure out if it would be the best thing for me or not. I am sure I have inventory to put in my store. My brother is a co-owner of a retail store in Overland Park and he would like me to put some of his clearance items on eBay. What are your thoughts about an eBay store? Do you think it would benefit me? I heard that store items are not searchable, is that true? Thanks!

 

Shop Keeper

An eBay store is a great way to sell your excess inventory and your brother’s clearance items. Store items are set at a fixed price unlike auction listings. Pricing can be an important part to the success of your store. Auctions are on eBay one to ten days. Store listings run 30 days at a time up to Good ‘Til Cancelled. A basic store cost 15.95 per month plus .05 cents to .10 cents per listing for 30 days.

 

When a buyer searches for an item on eBay, the search engine does not find Store Inventory items unless the search results have less than 20 matches. But they are searchable within your own store, and a buyer can select to not only to search auctions, but also search stores too. All of the popular search engines pick up store items. So you can even draw people into your store when a prospective buyer is searching the Internet for the item.

 

I have a store, and through trial and error I have found by doing a few things I have really boosted my store sales. Make sure you set up categories for your store. It really helps to have a fully stocked store with a minimum of 100 items in it. I find the more diverse items I have in my store, the better my store sales are. I also use “Best Offer” on all my store items.   You can then accept or decline their offer. Since incorporating Best Offer my store sales have really taken off.

 

 

 

 

Strange eBay item of the week: eBay item 190097094728 (enter this number in the eBay search box in the top right corner of the home page). I am almost sure that my mother had this very item, but she called it a nightgown! Take note it has an unfinished hem, which means they cut it off to make it more fashionable. Vintage 60s Taupe LACE Puff Babydoll TENT Mini Dress SM SOLD $301.00 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190097094728

 

I listed five items on eBay Sunday, it is now Tuesday, and only one of those items has a bid. What am I doing wrong? I thought I should have more than just one bid. What do you think I should do?   I also have had so many questions about my items. I thought selling on eBay would be a little bit easier than this. Maybe I should just give up. It doesn’t look like I am cut out for eBay selling. 

Giving Up

Don’t give up yet! Three days is not enough time spent on a career to figure out if you are going to like it. eBay is a combination of luck, and hard work. It also takes some patience.   Most people bid in the last minutes of the auction. So you could still receive multiple bids on all of you’re items before your auctions end this coming Sunday.

 

Since you did not included your eBay name, or an auction number, I cannot really say if you are doing anything wrong. Based on the number of questions you are receiving, I would say that you may have left some details out of your auction listing.   When you are describing an item, make sure you cover size, color, age, condition and a grading scale if applicable. Include any damage, discolorations, chip, cracks or stains. Also consider giving the perspective buyer an idea why this item would make a great gift, or when it would come in handy. Including these things will virtually eliminate all of your questions from buyers.

 

I don’t think you should give up after just a few days. Give it 3-6 months to see if you really like this life of online auctioneering. Make sure you let me know how you are doing.

 

 

 

I purchased a lovely pitcher and glass set from a seller a couple of weeks ago. I purchased insurance and noticed that there was not a red oval stamped on the box that reads “INSURED”. All the other packages I purchased had this red mark from the post office on the package.   I asked my postal carrier, and he couldn’t give me much help. I emailed my seller and they said they used an alternative to the post office. Do you have any idea what that means? Does that mean my package was insured? I was thinking about demanding my $1.35 back since she did not have insurance stamped on the box.

 

Amy

 

 

 

There are several companies that provide insurance for items shipped by USPS and other shipping companies. These companies offer insurance at a substantially lower cost than what the shipping service provides. If you are interested in how this type of insurance works, check out these companies.

 

 

It is becoming very popular to use one of these companies to insure packages. Some people insure every package, and the savings really can add up. You did not say if you’re item broke or not. If they broke, let your seller know and she will get the appropriate paperwork to you so your claim will be paid. If your item did not break, I would not ask for your $1.35 back. If you still questions how this service works, email her and ask her which company she uses to insure packages.   

 

 

Strange eBay item of the week: eBay item 140091351066 (enter this number in the eBay search box in the top right corner of the home page).   This weeks item isn’t really strange, but the photos of the inside of this house are AMAZING. The title is 1857 Greek Revival Historic Home 5500 square ft 12 Acres. When you look at this auction you will not believe the amount of stuff that is in this house. I’ve never seen that much amazing stuff in one place. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=140091351066